1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to bioinformatics, and more particularly to a system and method for joint classification and subtype discovery in tumor diagnosis by is gene expression profiling.
2. Description of Related Art
The accurate determination of tumor's site of origin and pathogenesis is important for the cancer diagnosis and treatment. In general, pathologists utilize a variety of histological, genetic and immunologic techniques to make site-specific diagnosis. However, current techniques are limited in their probability to distinguish different tumor types. Many specimens are incorrectly classified due to their morphological similarity to other tumor types. Also, a large number of samples remain poorly differentiated and difficult to related to any known tumor type. Moreover, many heterogeneous diseases consists of various potential subtypes in molecular basis and differ remarkably in their response to therapies.
The optimal treatment of patients with complex diseases, such as cancers, depends on the accurate diagnosis by using a combination of clinical and histo-pathological data. In many scenarios, it becomes tremendously difficult because of the limitations in clinical presentation and histo-pathology. To accurate diagnose complex diseases, the molecular classification based on gene/protein expression profiles are needed. Moreover, many heterogeneous diseases are comprised of various potential subtypes in molecular basis and differ in their response to therapies. Thus, an accurate prediction of subgroups on disease gene expression profiles is needed.
Therefore, a need exists for a system and method incorporating knowledge of the molecular basis and classification of disease in the prediction of patient outcome, the informed selection of therapies, identification of novel molecular targets for therapy, etc.